Spiral-bound 5/16/13

Thursday

May 16, 2013 at 9:00 AM

JAZZ DUO AT TUFTS As part of Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine at Tufts University&rsquo;s Varis Performing Arts Series, the Nando Michelin Jazz Duo performs on Saturday, April 20 at 3 p.m. Nando Michelin first came to the United States from his homeland of Uruguay to attend Berklee College of Music in Boston, where he continued to develop his skills as a piano player and composer. Once graduating in 1991, Michelin recorded several pieces of original music for Perro Andaluz, an Uruguayan label. Jazz Times has called his album &ldquo;ART,&rdquo; &ldquo;an ear-grabbing gallery of break-taking originals.&rdquo;

WSU and WAM Worcester State University&rsquo;s new partnership with Worcester Art Museum (WAM) has allowed students to use their skill sets and continue to learn outside of the classroom through five different projects. Two of the projects joined together professors of the Visual and Performing Arts department and students and have been featured at WAM this month. One exhibit, &ldquo;Boondoggle,&rdquo; is the work of students who have created art with the help and supervision of Michelle Poirier, a dancer who guided students through improvisational movement in reaction, relation and response to various works of art in the galleries; and Amy Archambault who worked with the students in found-object transformations and constructions. The other exhibit at WAM was a wearable art fashion show. A third project brought together Psychology department professors and students to research how people use specific galleries before a new installation. Those involved will continue their research once the new installation is completed over the summer. The information will allow WAM to gain insight into how the improved gallery configuration will affect attendees&rsquo; Interaction with the art. Another project is a class about docent training, which takes place in the museum and will ultimately lead to a paid internship for students as docents at WAM. The final project brings together the Computer Science department with WAM&rsquo;s Jeppson Idea Lab to create an app. for use with current projects taking place in the lab.

AMAZING ALUMNI Five noteworthy, actually, let&rsquo;s call them outstanding, graduates of the College of the Holy Cross have been recognized with the Sanctae Crucis Award, that was established in 1998 to make note of distinguished achievements of alumni. Below are this year&rsquo;s recipients.

Richard Connolly, Jr. &lsquo;61: Philanthropist and financial advisor, overseeing an estimated $3.7 billion in assets at Morgan Stanley. He is considered one of the nation&rsquo;s most successful stockbrokers.

Kara Dallman &lsquo;87: Retired naval commander and director of business development at the nonprofit United Through Reading, working to advance the mission of uniting military families who are physically separated by sharing the experience of reading aloud together.

Peter Deckers, M.D. &lsquo;62: Surgeon, teacher and former dean of the University of Connecticut&rsquo;s School of Medicine and former executive vice president of the university&rsquo;s Health Center, where he facilitated a transformation of the way the school taught with new forward-thinking curriculum that won national recognition.

Mary Cahoon McGinnity &lsquo;77: Executive director of the Ignation Volunteer Corps, helping to provide men and women over the age of 50 with opportunities to serve the needs of people who are poor, to to work for a more just society, and grow deeper in Chritian faith by reflecting and praying in the Ignation tradition.

Katherine Volk &lsquo;00: Advocate for the homeless, victims of violence and those dealing with trauma. She is also the managing director of t3 (think.teach.transform) and a senior associate at the Center of Social Innovation, where she leads a training institute committed to improving the knowledge and skills of people working in human services.

PUBLISHED Dennis Vanasse, director of Student Success Center at Anna Maria College, has recently authored and published two children&rsquo;s books that focus on topics that Mr. Vanasse believe need to be addressed in society. &ldquo;I am Special too&rdquo; is about a 7-year-old boy who is just like any other child, except that he has Cerebral Palsy and is in a wheelchair. &ldquo;Stand Tall Against Bullying&rdquo; is about an 8-year-old boy who is bullied at school. Both books are available for purchase on amazon.com.

Send notes about Worcester colleges and universities, works of art by students and staff, opinion pieces and other higher-ed related content to editor@worcestermag.com with contact information to be considered for publication.

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